Why this matters
When a programme manager at an NGO in Tamale asks "how many women did we train this quarter, and in which districts?", they want an answer in minutes, not a day. The six functions in this lesson answer most questions like that. Functions of this kind are listed in Microsoft's Office Specialist Excel exam objectives and used in everyday reporting work, and they work the same in Excel and Google Sheets.
The six functions
SUM, AVERAGE and COUNT
=SUM(F2:F200)adds the numbers in a range.=AVERAGE(F2:F200)gives the mean of the numbers.=COUNT(F2:F200)counts cells that contain numbers. Its cousin=COUNTA(B2:B200)counts cells that are not empty, including text.
COUNTIF: how many meet one condition
=COUNTIF(D2:D200,"Female") counts cells in D2:D200 equal to "Female". Conditions can also compare numbers: =COUNTIF(E2:E200,">=10") counts rows where E is 10 or more. Capital letters do not matter to COUNTIF, but extra spaces do.